The present invention concerns feed rolls used in commercial enterprises to advance articles along a course during processing of same.
By way of example, in the food processing industry it is a common practice to transfer, in succession, harvested ears of corn along a conveyor path with the objective being the sequential introduction of each ear to a corn cutting machine for separation of kernels from cob.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,060, incorporated herein by reference, discloses such a machine. The patented machine has cooperating upper and lower pairs of powered rolls which receive each husk free ear of corn in sequence and advances same into a housing wherein an orbital cutter blade removes the kernels. The upper and lower pairs of rolls have lugs which frictionally engage the ear kernels. The lugs on existing rolls have angular surfaces resulting in line contact with and the rupturing of some kernels which become waste as damaged kernels are often not utilized in the end product. Of interest, is that the ear diameter is directly related to such waste. To the extent known, feed rolls of corn cutting machines have lug bearing surfaces with angular edges and, even though the roll material is somewhat resilient, a substantial number of kernels are rendered unusable. What may initially appear as a minimal loss constitutes a sizeable loss of product when the high volume of processed corn is considered even over a short period of time. The foregoing serves to highlight the problem encountered in a food processing operation but is not intended to imply the present invention is limited to such use.